Jake Paul's business partner has rubbished a suggestion by UFC president Dana White that poor ticket sales led to the cancellation of the YouTuber's fight with Hasim Rahman Jr.
Paul announced last week that his Madison Square Garden showdown with Rahman Jr had been cancelled with the social media star accusing his rival of failing to attempt to make weight. Paul claimed Rahman Jr told him he would weigh in at 215lb, 10lb heavier than the updated limit.
But White, and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, suggested poor ticket sales in New York were to blame for the postponement. That theory has been dismissed by Nakisa Bidarian who said: "It had zero to do with ticket sales. We already sold more tickets, more gate than Ryan Garcia just did at Staples Center. We were going to be top-10 in gates since 2005 at MSG.
"Jake Paul was taking a big challenge. All of his fights have been from about 188 to 191 pounds, and all of his opponents - outside Nate Robinson - have been plus or minus one to two pounds of him. That’s all it is. They can try and change the narrative, they can try to destroy what this young man has done. I’m proud of him. He’s his own boss. He’s his own promoter, and I’m just an accountant. What’s up?"
Speaking after the conclusion of UFC 277 in Dallas last weekend, White, who has had a long-running feud with Paul, and who employed Bidarian as the UFC's Chief Financial Officer, said: "I'm not going to sit up here and be happy or gloat that their fight fell out. Both those guys I’m sure put in a lot of hard work and a lot of training to get ready for this fight, spent money to get ready for this fight.
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"I will say this, just because you were an accountant here doesn’t mean you know what the f*** goes on here. It doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company. I think that Jake Paul probably needs to get some different people around him. If he’s going to stay in the sport, he needs to be with guys that really know how to put on fights."
Paul has yet to reveal when he plans to return to the ring having not fought since he knocked out Tyron Woodley last December. Rahman Jr, meanwhile, claims he will weigh in on Friday as planned in a bid to prove his opponent was wrong to pull the plug.
